


At the Bottom of the Ocean, there’s a Place for You and Me

by DiveIn_HeadFirst_CantLose



Category: All Elite Wrestling
Genre: AEW Revolution, Angst, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, I wrote this in one sitting with no rewrites or proofreading, M/M, Matt has had enough, Not Kayfabe Compliant, Pray for me, Read into the mattkenny as platonic or romantic I don’t mind, Songfic, You Ruin Me by The Veronicas, after the match, canon divergent as of this week’s dynamite, mattkenny brainworms are back, the boys need some therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29984718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiveIn_HeadFirst_CantLose/pseuds/DiveIn_HeadFirst_CantLose
Summary: One year on from the pay-per view where Matt almost ruined this friendship, he burns that bridge for good.
Relationships: Matt Jackson/Kenny Omega (implied but not specified)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	At the Bottom of the Ocean, there’s a Place for You and Me

_Job well done, Standing ovation  
Yeah you got what you wanted  
I guess you won _

Kenny staggers to the back. Blood is still pouring down his face, staining his hair. He's barely staying on his own two feet. His shirt is torn from all the barbed wire.

Matt is watching him. This has to end. And even though he knows he'll never truly let go of him, he can't do this any longer. The fighting and making up just to fight again, the watching Kenny's descent into madness from his front row seat.

He had watched the match from start to finish. He got some kind of sick pleasure out of it, of the way that Kenny suffered. 

But at the same time, it feels like a part of him had been shredded by those barbs, been blown to pieces by the C4. Kenny is grinning like the devil he's become, and despite the state he's in, his spirits are high. It's almost maniacal, just on the edge of maddening.

Kenny walks over to them, says something about the match. Matt isn't listening, but he knows it's about Don and the good brothers. He doesn't want to hear it, he blocks it all out.

_I don't want to hear it  
They don't know you like I do  
Even I could've told you that now we're done _

He struggles and searches for the words, but he comes up dry. He feels so hollow, so cheap. Traded out for another so easily. Replaced so carelessly. 

He's cried over Kenny, he's flung himself in harm's way to protect him. There's a time where he would have killed to be at his friend's side. So why, why is he not enough?

He hates this, hates every goddamned thing about this. All Kenny ever thinks about is himself. No matter how hard he fights to prove his loyalty, his adoration, he still remains invisible.

 _'Cause you play me like a symphony  
Play me till your fingers bleed  
I'm your greatest masterpiece  
You ruin me _

"I can't." He finally stammers out, and everything just stops. The people stop moving, stop talking. Everyone is watching as he finally, finally snaps.

Nick looks at him with sympathy. He knows, understands what Matt is going through. He's going through it too. There's nothing he can say or do to dull the pain. 

Kenny looks at him quizzically. Innocently, as if Matt hadn't moved mountains for him and gotten nothing in return. At least Kenny can stand to look at him. "Can't what? Are you alright, Matt?"

"No! I'm not!" He's had enough, he's had enough, he can't do this any longer. He's given everything over and over and he's just so tired, now. He craves rest, he wants to be held, the way he has held Kenny in his time of need.

_Later when the curtains drawn  
And no one's there for you back home  
Don't cry to me, you played me wrong  
You ruin me _

"I'm tired of this! I'm tired of giving you all I have over and over again! I'm tired of holding onto someone that doesn't even exist anymore!"

Kenny looks shocked. Taken aback by the suddenness of it all. "What's wrong, I'm sure it's nothing we can't fi-" 

Matt cuts him off. He's at the end of his rope, he's lashing out in blind rage. He's just so exhausted.

"This is beyond fixing, You are beyond fixing!" 

The look on Kenny's face almost makes him feel guilty, but only for a moment. Only until he remembers just how much of himself he has give to the selfish man in front of him.

_I know you thought, that I wouldn't notice  
You were acting so strange, I'm not that dumb _

"Just look at you!" He yells. Kenny looks at his hands, looks at himself for a moment. He looks back up at Matt. 

"Wait, please-"

"No, Kenny. I have sacrificed so much for you, and gotten nothing in return. If you keep going down this path, pushing us all away like you did Kota, one day you're gonna wake up, and there will be nobody there to save you anymore! And you better not come crying to me when that happens," His eyes blur with tears. "Because I gave you **everything** I had."

_And in the end I hope it was worth it  
I don't care if you loved me, you make me numb _

He starts to walk away. He's just feeling numb, he can't feel anything but an aching void in his chest.

Kenny reaches out to him. His voice has softened, the usual bravado is gone. "Matt, wait! You're my best fri-"

"I don't care." He's crying now, actually crying. He hates it, the tears burn his eyes and bubble up inside him and make him feel like he's about to finally break beyond repair. "You finally broke me, Kenny."

_'Cause you play me like a symphony  
Play me till your fingers bleed  
I'm your greatest masterpiece  
You ruin me _

His footsteps clatter down the hallway. He's running. He's running, he doesn't know where to, but he doesn't want to stop. He can't breathe. All he can do, is take those short, gasping breaths that make him feel like he's dying. 

He keeps his path twisting and turning, running until his lungs are about to give out. 

Kenny watches him go. Nick just looks at him and shakes his head, taking off after his brother, left to pick up the pieces all over again. He's used to it, he started resenting Kenny for this behaviour a long time ago. 

_Play me when the card's drawn  
And no one's there for you back home  
Don't cry to me, you played me wrong  
You ruin me _

He hears Matt's voice ringing through his head, a broken melody that he can't escape from. Don puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, and suddenly everything is simple again. He knows that he's just a marionette, he's Don's greatest masterpiece and nothing more. 

It can't hurt him to pretend for a while, can it?

The cracks are showing, he's falling apart, there's nothing left for him to save. Chasing after Matt is like chasing the very last train, when they both know it's too late.

_We're that song you wouldn't sing  
Just a broken melody  
You're killing me _

Memories of Matt and Nick and Kota and everyone he's ever pushed away wash over him like he's a stone at the bottom of a river, and they're enough to make him stagger forward, knocked off balance by the torment of his own thoughts. 

Don helps keep him on his feet, and he mumbles his thanks. The cracks keep appearing, faster and faster, his world is turning to rubble. 

_You play me like a symphony  
Play me till your fingers bleed  
I'm your greatest masterpiece  
You ruin me _

He knows he's being manipulated. The thought won't stop ringing through him, over and over and over again. He can't escape the endless noise, he's drowning in it. Matt and Nick were all he truly had left. Everyone else around him, they're all vultures and snakes. Trying to lure and trick him, or waiting for him to collapse.

He's all alone. There's nothing left.

_And later when the curtains drawn  
And no one's there for you back home  
Don't cry to me, you played me wrong  
You ruin me _

There's no one to go crying to.


End file.
